Cord seal lock



April 3, 1956 J. E. ORSCHEL CORD SEAL LOCK Filed Jan. 9, 19

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ATTORNEY United States Patent O CORD SEAL LOCK Joseph E. Orschel,Arlington, Va., assignoto Stolfel Seals orporatio, Tuckahoe, N. Y., acorporatio of New ork Application January 9, 1953, Serial No. 330,602 1Claim. (Cl. 292-323) (Grated under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec.266) The invention described and used by or for the herein may bemanufactured Government of the United States for governmental purposeswithout the payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with theprovisions of the act of April 30, 1928 (Ch. 460, 45 Stat. L. 467).

This invention relates to a cord looking and scaling device for tying,securing, and scaling bundles, packages, mail pouches, sacks, and thelike, and more particularly, relates to a device of this type having acorc permanently secured at one end to a lock through which the otherend of the cord may be inserted, pulled tight, and locked after havingbeen looped around the part or parts to be closed and sealed.

An object of this invention is to provide a one-time, throw-away cordseal lock of the type described, which is simple and economical toconstruct but which holds so securely that it cannot be slipped orremoved without cutting the cord.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cord seal lock of thetype described in which the cord is securely held in the lock with apositive pressure thereby insuring that there will be no slippage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cord seal lock of thetype described wherein both ends of the cord are held within the lockand secured from slippage by a positive pressure means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cord seal lock whereinthe cord may be drawn through the lock in one direction only and whereinpositive pressure means prevent slippage of the cord in the oppositedirection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cord lock which holdswith a positive pressure against the cord regardless of the size orfirmness of the cord.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the ensuing description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an isometric view of the cord seal lock of this inventionshowing the free end of the cord outside of the lock.

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the cord seal lock of Fig. l showing thefree end of the cord inserted through the lock to form a loop.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the cord seal lock of Fig. 1 with oneside wall removed to show the fastening and looking means.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of the cord seal lock of Fig. 1 with oneside wall removed showing how the free end of the cord is secured by thelocking means.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing in detail an end of thespring looking means of the device of Figs. 1-4.

Fig. 6 is a view showing an application of the cord seal lock to thelooking and scaling of mail bags.

The cord seal lock of this invention is a one-time, throw-away devicecomprising, in the preferred embodiment thereof, only three pa'ts, abox-like housing, a leaf type spring and a cord. In operation, the cordforms a loop around the object or objects to be secured and sealed, andthe ends of the cord are securely held in the housing by the force ofthe spring arms urging them against opposite side walls of the housing.Provision is made in the housing for the passage of one end of the cordcompletely therethrough beneath one of the spring ends whereby the loopmay be tightened. Multiple teeth or serrations on the spring ends incooperation with the spring pressure very efiectively prevent backwardslippage of the cord, whereas due to the angle of the spring arms in thedirection in which the cord is drawn for tightening the loop, forwardmotion for this purpose is permitted. The cord once passed through thehousing and drawn tight holds so securely that it is impossible to workit loose, and it is necessary to either cut the cord or break thehousing to remove it. The opening of a bundle, sack, or other objectsecured by this device s thereby made impossible without becomingapparent on inspection.

Referring now to the drawings for a more complete understanding of theinvention, the cord seal lock consists of a box-like housing generallydesignated as 10, of metal or other suitable rigid material, having anopening 11 in an end wall 12 thereof to accommodate the passage of acord 13. For convenience in illustrating the interior parts of the cordseal lock and the operation thereof, Figs. 3 and 4 show the housing 10with a sidewall removed. lt will be understood that the article asmanufactured would be complete with this sidewall in place. Thesidewalls of the housing may be attached by crimping them to the endwall or by other known fabrication methods. The cord 13 would alsonormally be secured at one end within the housing, as shown in Figs. 1and 3, during the course of manufacture, although the cord could beinserted later if desired.

Within the housing 10, a leaf-type spring 14 of spring steel or othersuitable resilient material is arranged in approximately the form of a Vwith its apex toward the central portion of end wall 12 and with itsarms slanting toward opposing sidewalls. The apex or base of the springpreferably is flattened where it contacts the end wall 12 to ensure thatno shifting of the spring will occur in usage. The arms of the spring 14are compressed between the sidewalls of the housing and exert a positivepressure thereon. These arms may be curved slightly out wardly, asshown, toward the sidewalls of the housing whereby the spring ends aredirected substantially normal to the side walls. Raised stops 15 in thesidewalls of hous` ing 10 retain the spring 14 in the proper position.These stops 15, for convenience and Simplicity of manufacture arepreferably formed by stamping the metal sides of housing 10 to formopposed inwardly projecting portions which engage the center or apex ofthe spring 14 and thereby in cooperation with the end wall 12 maintainit in proper position. These inwardly projecting portions appear asindentations 17 on the outside of the housing as seen in Figs. 1 and 2.They may be round or may be of such configuration to engage asubstantial portion of the flattened inner portion of the spring base.Alternatively, the spring may be held in place by other suitable meanswithout departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

An end of cord 13 is firmly anchored within the housing 10 between oneend of the spring 14 and the adjoining sidewall. The ends of the spring14 are provided With multiple teeth or serrations 16 which grip the cordunder the positive pressure of the spring arm and prevent movement ofthe cord toward the opening 11. As shown in Fig. 3, when the cord seallock is not in use, one end of the spring 14 bears against the side ofthe housing 10 opposite the fixed end of cord 13.

The housing 10 is also provided with openings 18 and 19 in approximatealignment in the end walls on the opposte side of the box from the fixedend of the cord. These openings are arranged to receive the free end ofthe co'd 13 as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The free end of the cord isbeaded as shown at 20 to facilitate its insertion into the openings. ltis inserted n opening 18` passes heneath spring lock 14, urging itupwa'dly, and at the same time causing this member to exert an increasedpressure on the anchored end of the cord, and then is passed out of thebox through opening 19. lt Will be understood that the loop in the cordis placed around the gathered end of the mail bag or ethe; object to besealed either before or after insertion of the free end of the cord inthe housing, and the end of the cord is then pulled tight through thehousing.

A locked and sealed bag 21 is shown in Fig. 6. As

shown in this figure, a tag 22, as, for instrnce a mailing tag, may beplaced on the cord before the ree end is inserted into the lookingdevice. The cord thereby locls and seals the bag as well as provides aconvenient means for holding tags.

When the cord 13 is drawn tight after having been proper y pos tioned,it is securely locked by the spring clip 14, which holds With a constantpressure against the cord regardlcss of the ci cumference or hrmness ofthe cord. The teeth 16 are urged into the cord material With a positivepressu-e, which prevents any one from working the cord loose by twistingor other manipulations. The spring is constructed of material ofsuflcient weight and strength that there will be substantially nodistortion or buckling or' the spring arms under the back pressuresencountered. The only way the bag may be opened is by cutting orbreaking the eord or by breaking the lock. The device is particularlyuseful in applications requiring a high degree of security as, forexample, on mail bags, mail pouches, and the like, where it performsboth closing and scaling functions. The Simplicity of manufacture andeconomy of parts and materials also render it useful for a closurealone, and obvously it may also be used as a seal for containers havingother closure means.

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It will be appreciated from a reading of the foregoing specificationthat the invention herein described is susceptible of various changesand modifications without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

A cord lock seal comprising a box-like housing having spaced top andbottom walls, spaced apart end walls and spaced apart side walls, a leafspring in said housing bent in approximately the form of a V having aattened apex adjacent a central portion of an end wall of said housingand arms compressed within and curving outwardly toward the opposingside walls of said housing, so that the spring ends are directedsubstantially normal to said side walls, means for maintaining the apexof said spring in said position, a plu'ality of teeth on the ends ofsaid spring arms leaving a space between the teeth and the adjoiningside wall less than the diameter of a cord to be drawn through anopening, said end wall having an opening on each side of the apex ofsaid spring, the other end wall of said housing having a third openingopposite one of said first mentioned openings, whereby the ends of thecord may be inserted through the respective first mentioned openings andsecured by a constant pressure of the teeth of the arms of said springpressing the cord against the side walls of the housing, and one end ofsaid cord may be drawn through said third opening to tighten the loop soformed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS830,565 Brown Sept. 11, 1906 %8,665 Humphrey Aug. 30, 1910 l,333,276Murray Mar. 9, 1920 1,871,064 Kipper et al Aug. 9, 1932 1,930,560 KeidelOct. 17, 1933 1,987,351 Rose Jan. 8, 1935 2,348,627 Holland et al May 9,1944

